HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 5222

BYSenators Saling, Gaspard, Smitherman, Patterson, Bauer, Stratton, Lee and West

Repealing the termination of the loan program for mathematics and science teachers.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendments.  (14)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Spanel, Vice Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Doty, Fraser, Heavey, Inslee, Jesernig, Miller, H. Myers, Prince, Rector and Wood.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION MARCH 29, 1989

BACKGROUND:

The Incentive Program for Mathematics and Science Teachers was created in 1982 to attract mathematics and science students into the teaching profession.  Through the program, needy students enrolled in a degree program leading to teacher certification may borrow up to $2,500 a year for their education.  The maximum amount any student may borrow is $10,000.  Students must repay the loan, with interest, unless they teach mathematics or science, in a Washington public school.  If recipients teach mathematics or science at least half time, for 10 years, in a Washington public school, the loan, including interest, is forgiven.  The program will expire on August 23, 1989.

The Legislative Budget Committee (LBC) completed a review of the program during February, 1989.  The committee found that 741 loans have been made to 541 recipients since the program's inception.  The average loan amount is $2,040.  At the end of the 1988 fiscal year, payments on 126 loans were being forgiven.  178 loans did not qualify for forgiveness, and were being paid back to an account administered by the Higher Education Coordinating Board.  In other words, 41 percent of the recipients who are no longer enrolled in higher education are teaching mathematics or science in Washington's public schools.

The LBC recommended that the program be expanded, renamed, and refocused to encourage prospective teachers to major in subject areas in which the state has a crucial need.  The committee also recommended that the legislature consider combining the program with the Future Teacher Conditional Scholarship Program.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction was encouraged to prepare draft legislation on the program during the 1990 legislative session.  Finally, the committee recommended the passage of legislation that would permit the program to continue to make loans using funds generated by loan repayments from former recipients.

SUMMARY:

BILL AS AMENDED:  The Higher Education Coordinating Board, with the cooperation of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, is directed to study and report to the legislature on the advisability of either expanding the Loan Program for Mathematics and Science Teachers to include other fields of study in which a shortage of teachers exists, or to including the program in the Future Teachers Conditional Scholarship Program.  The report is due by December, 1989.

The report will include recommendations in specific areas.  These areas include: procedures for forecasting the need for teachers with specific skill specialties; procedures and criteria for attracting prospective teachers into specialities in which the greatest shortages are forecast; and other measures designed to enhance the purpose of the program.  Recommendations on the advisability of reducing the loan payback period and on the means of monitoring the program are also included.

No loans for the Loan Program for Mathematics and Science Teachers shall be made after August 23, 1991.

AMENDED BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  Instead of removing the expiration date of the program, the Higher Education Coordinating Board is required to study various program options, and report to the legislature by December 1989.  Elements of the report are outlined. No loans shall be made after August 23, 1991.

Fiscal Note:      Available.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Ted Andrews, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) does not collect much data on teacher placement, but does have placement data for first year hires.  The SPI has a difficult time getting accurate data on vacancies in subject areas from the retirement system, since that data must be collected by hand.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.